Rohit Sharma, India’s Test captain, held his cards close to his chest at the pre-match press conference before the eagerly awaited World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, set to start on Wednesday, June 7, at The Oval in south London. Rohit didn’t name a playing XI, merely saying that all 15 members of the squad would be in contention.
“We’ve been hearing about not much of cricket being played here in June, but the county season actually has been played here. We saw there was a game played a couple of weeks back here,” Rohit told reporters. “So, it’s not like it’s the first game of the season happening on this ground. We are quite aware of what the conditions are, what is going to happen in the next five days. The weather forecast looks all right. But yeah, in terms of the combination, I think it’s better that we wait till tomorrow. That’s a common answer, I think.
Rohit hadn’t even made his Test debut in June 2013, the last time India won an ICC tournament, the Champions Trophy. But he wouldn’t dwell on India’s many near-misses over the past decade, and expressed confidence in the current team’s mindset.
“We know what we have won and what we have not won. There is no point in thinking about it again and again. Last year when we were in Australia for the T20 World Cup, we were asked the same question, and I answered the same question,” the Indian captain said. “The players know when India won and when they didn’t. I don’t think it is right to think about it again and again. You have to focus on the situation and how we can do better. All the players and coaching staff are focused on how we can do well in this match and win. Because what has happened and what is going to happen in the future, there is no point in thinking about that. It is very important to think about the present. Our team’s focus is on how we will win this match.”
The fact that R Ashwin was one of only four players to turn up for optional practice on Tuesday was seen by some as confirmation that he wouldn’t be part of the playing XI. Rohit, however, said that he and the team management would keep a close eye on the pitch at The Oval before making a final decision on the morning of the game.
“I’ve not said that Ashwin is not going to play. We’ll wait until tomorrow – because one thing I have seen here – the pitch actually changes quite a bit day to day,” Rohit said. “Today it’s looking the way it is. Tomorrow it might be slightly different, who knows. So the message to the boys has been very clear, all 15 must be ready to play at any point in time. And we’ll see the conditions tomorrow as well and make that decision as to who gets into that playing 11.”
When asked about the legacy he aims to leave behind, Rohit preferred to focus on the present challenge, rather than speculate about the future.
“I’ve gotten the job to make sure that we take Indian cricket forward every time whoever it is, whether it’s me or someone else, even the guys before, their role was to take Indian cricket forward and win as many games, as many championships as possible. For me also, it will be the same. I want to win games, I want to win championships. That is what you play for. And yeah, it will be nice to win some titles, win some extraordinary series.
“I genuinely feel that we don’t want to put too much pressure on ourselves by overthinking about these kind of stuff. As a captain, like I said, every captain wants to win championships, So I’ll be no different. I also want to win championship. And that’s what the sport is all about, winning championship. So for me, it’ll be nice if I can win one or two championships, as in when I decide to move on from this job. So it’ll be nice. So we’ll wait and see what happens. Tomorrow, we’ll start another challenging – the next five days will be quite challenging for us and gives us the opportunity to win the championship, but we do understand that winning the championship is not easy. You got to do a lot of things right to win the championship,” Rohit said while adding, “Right now the focus is just on that, how we can come out on top and do well in this game. So the talks, the preparation has just been around that. I haven’t really thought about what is going to happen in the future. Honestly, it’s always nice because I’m somebody who’s always believed that what you have in front of you, focus on that rather than thinking way too ahead, what can happen in the future, what kind of things you want to do. But yeah, there are certain things that I’ve set in my mind that I want to do. So hopefully I can achieve that.”
Shubman Gill, who looks certain to open the batting alongside Rohit, has been in stunning form of late, across formats. Rohit suggested that he wouldn’t be giving any advice, instead trusting Gill to find his own solutions.
“He doesn’t need any advice,” said Rohit. “He has played this before, and likes to face challenges. There’s not too much to tell him, just give him more and more confidence.”
India were well off the pace against New Zealand in the last WTC final, but Rohit reckoned his players had the experience to handle such a big occasion. “A lot of guys are quite experienced right now,” he said. “Every individual has managed pressure. Whoever takes the field tomorrow has got through pressure situations before.”
Rohit was also confident that India would be able to handle potentially overcast conditions at The Oval. “Looks a bit of help for seamers,” he said. “Overcast conditions. When we played the last time at The Oval, the pitch was similar, but it started to reverse swing too.”
India come into the WTC final immediately after the IPL, and Rohit acknowledged modern cricket schedule presented a big challenge for most teams and players. “We don’t know when we had a good amount of break,” he said. “That’s why there’s so much workload management. This is part of your job now. You do understand a lot of cricket is being played now, and we are trying everything from our side. It’s not just now, last year we played that test [Edgbaston], three T20Is and three ODIs [in England].”
India’s batting wasn’t fit for purpose in the last WTC final, with Kyle Jameson in particular causing havoc. For many like Rohit, this could well be a last shot at redemption, at least as far as the WTC is concerned.
“The last time we played, we did make a few mistakes, which we have already spoken about in this group. Obviously, there are a few guys missing from that squad. But yeah, I mean, we are quite excited about the score as well. You know, it’s a good challenge to have. And yeah, we know exactly what went wrong for us in the last championship final,” Rohit said. “So we hopefully will not repeat those kind of things. That is all you want to do as a sportsman. You don’t want to repeat mistakes that can get the better results eventually. So we’ve played the opposition a fair bit in the last two or three months so we know what they are capable of – so it’s just about considering all the factors and pulling it through.”